Ksitigarbha Finally Enters the Underworld

Suppressing the fury in his heart, Jieyin shot a fierce glare at Empress Pingxin and Haotian.

Then he vanished from the spot without another word.

Seeing Jieyin leave, Empress Pingxin shifted her gaze.

She spoke to Ksitigarbha, who was still stunned: "Since the negotiations are settled, Ksitigarbha, you may proceed to the Nine Netherworlds now.

Remember the rules of the Underworld!

Otherwise, the Heavenly Court's Execution Platform will have a place reserved for you."

Startled by Empress Pingxin's words, Ksitigarbha finally snapped back to reality.

This "negotiation" had shaken him deeply.

Since when did saints have to endure such humiliation?

It seemed he would need to tread carefully in his future actions.

Shaking off his thoughts, Ksitigarbha said solemnly, "This Humble One will go now!"

With that, he withdrew from the hall.

Seeing the matter resolved, Haotian was about to take his leave.

But unexpectedly, Empress Pingxin pushed the Eight Treasures Merit Pool toward him.

"Daoist Haotian!

Our Witch Clan could not use spiritual treasures in the past, so we have few left in our possession.

Both your earlier proposal to establish Yin Si and this visit to lend aid—

This Seat and the Witch Clan have benefited greatly.

This Seat can only offer this Eight Treasures Merit Pool as a token of gratitude.

I hope you will not disdain it."

Haotian merely glanced at the treasure before him.

Then he replied, "Daoist Pingxin need not do this. My visit this time was prompted by the Western Teachings' actions, which would disrupt the Underworld's order.

As for the matter of Yin Si before, Imperial We and you both gained something from it."

Hearing Haotian's words, Empress Pingxin pondered.

Indeed!

How could Haotian care for a mere High-grade Innate Spiritual Treasure?

It could not offset the favor of his two acts of assistance.

After a moment of deliberation, Empress Pingxin had to speak: "Daoist Haotian, please accept it.

This Seat knows this treasure cannot repay two Karmic debts.

Let it count as This Seat settling the Karma for your intervention this time.

Otherwise, This Seat's conscience will not rest easy."

Since Empress Pingxin put it that way, Haotian had no choice but to accept the Eight Treasures Merit Pool.

"Very well!

Since you insist, it would be improper for Imperial We to keep refusing.

Imperial We will take this treasure."

After storing the treasure, Haotian said to Empress Pingxin, "If you have no other matters, Imperial We will take my leave."

But Empress Pingxin stopped him.

"Daoist, wait!"

Haotian asked, "Is there something else?"

Gathering her thoughts, Empress Pingxin spoke: "Nothing major. I just wanted to ask you—

If the Western Teachings or other saints' Great Sects continue to send disciples and followers, how should we respond?"

Hearing this question, Haotian replied, "That is simple.

Just follow the same approach as with Ksitigarbha.

We are the true controllers of the Underworld.

As long as other forces follow the rules, their interference will not affect us much.

Especially now that most key positions in Yin Si are already held by the Witch Clan.

As for the remaining posts, you can trade them for benefits.

Just ensure that any cultivators entering the Underworld abide by its regulations.

Within the framework of the rules, even if the disciples of those saints' Great Sects perform exceptionally well..."

"It merely shares some of our trivial matters.

Do you understand now, Daoist friend?"

Empress Pingxin nodded upon hearing this.

"Since Daoist friend Haotian puts it that way, This Seat now has a clear picture."

"In that case, Imperial We shall take our leave!

Farewell!"

With that, Haotian departed the Underworld.

Leaving the Underworld, Haotian found a place and retrieved the Eight Treasures Merit Pool.

After studying it for a moment, Haotian formed an idea in his mind.

This spiritual treasure, if placed in the hands of another force, might have some use.

It could even become something of a white elephant.

But in his hands, Haotian, it was a rare and precious artifact.

Cleansing the physical body, washing away Karma and karmic debts?

These two powers were weak?

No matter!

Amplify them ten thousand times, and all problems would be solved.

A white elephant could thus become a treasure.

Especially the power to wash away Karma.

It couldn't be more suited to Haotian.

As the Heavenly Emperor, Haotian was inherently burdened with the heavy task of sorting out the Karma of the Primordial World and slowing the frequency of great kalpas.

This was also the reason he would have to undergo tribulations repeatedly in the future.

But with each tribulation endured, while some of the Primordial World's Karma was sorted, the Karma on Haotian himself also increased.

Tribulations, regardless of size, always involved karmic entanglement.

It was merely a matter of degree.

Yet, after the accumulation of Eons of tribulations, what would become of Haotian?

Enduring Eons of tribulations sounded impressive.

But the karmic entanglement was truly heavy.

And karmic entanglement was precisely what cultivators dreaded most.

As the saying goes, merit is easy to accumulate, but Karma is hard to dispel.

Now, with the Eight Treasures Merit Pool, future troubles were eliminated.

Thinking this, Haotian nodded in satisfaction.

This trip was truly not a loss!

As for offending Jieyin, a saint?

No matter!

If he had let Jieyin succeed easily, he would still inevitably offend him over this matter in the future.

Putting away the spiritual treasure, Haotian continued northward.

But the further north Haotian traveled, the more members of the Demon Race he "conveniently" swept away.

Empress Nuwa in the Wa Imperial Palace gradually sensed something was wrong.

At that moment, in the Wa Imperial Palace, Empress Nuwa was staring solemnly at the Mirror of Radiance before her.

She hadn't paid attention to Haotian before and hadn't noticed anything unusual.

But recently, a sudden impulse led her to perform a divination.

She discovered that the Demon Race's fortune was declining.

Though the amount lost was still small, it was enough to put her on alert.

After further calculation, Empress Nuwa finally found the culprit.

She also wanted to see exactly how Haotian was damaging the Demon Race's fortune.

After watching for a while, Empress Nuwa seemed to grasp the key.

But upon closer thought, she found it unlikely.

Continuing to observe became her only option.

Concerning the fate of the Demon Race, Empress Nuwa dared not be careless.

Yet this observation had lasted nearly ten thousand years.

Throughout this time, every time she saw Haotian's actions, Empress Nuwa's delicate brows furrowed tightly.

Those beings burdened with heavy karma—if you killed them, so be it.

But.

Those minor demons with shallow karma—even you, Haotian, would not spare them, directly packing them up and tossing them back to the Heavenly Court.

What was the meaning of this?

That wasn't even the main point.

The main point was that she still hadn't figured out the basis on which Haotian struck down the Demon Race.

Heavy karma?

Yet what baffled her was that Haotian didn't kill all the demons with heavy karma either.

It felt as if that fellow was acting on a whim, randomly picking a lucky contestant.

It was precisely this erratic behavior of Haotian's that left Empress Nuwa unable to grasp his purpose for a time.

Having observed until now, Empress Nuwa always felt she was on the verge of catching Haotian's intent.

But something was still missing.

Soon.

In the Mirror of Radiance's scene, Haotian stopped again.

Watching Haotian's actions, Empress Nuwa knew.

Another demon was about to fall victim to Haotian's hand.

And the one suffering misfortune was a demon she had entrusted with an important task.

She just didn't know whether Haotian's aim this time was to kill or to capture.